Taxes, estate planning, and other financial issues are becoming increasingly complex for both gay and straight unmarried couples.

Unmarried couples are a growing part of our population, and with them the growing controversy over their legal rights as couples. If the government doesn't recognize a relationship, taxes, estate planning, buying property, and dividing assets after a breakup all get messier—and pricier. And, as Bloomberg Businessweek recently pointed out, the number of unmarried cohabiting couples has surged, meaning millions more Americans, gay and straight, are facing these issues. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates 7.5 million heterosexual couples and 620,000 same-sex couples lived together in 2010, compared with 6.7 million heterosexual couples and 476,000 same-sex couples in 2009. The lack…

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